Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Mayor Matt Patterson says the crime crisis in the region is now an emergency, and the NT Government must step in

Transcript

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Patterson says the crime crisis in the region is now an emergency, and the NT Government must step in · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And we know that in recent months that there has
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: been a lot of talk about the serious issues in
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Alice Springs that are being experienced when it comes to crime.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: We've spoken on numerous occasions to Robin Lamley, the independent
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: member for Aarra Lun We know that well. A bit
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: earlier this week we caught up with the Property Council
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: who'd recently been in Alice spoken to their members and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: have been told, you know, about the concerns that they
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: that they're facing. Some of those different businesses We've spoken
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to as well on numerous occasions. You know, we'd heard
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: earlier this year from a business who'd literally had their
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: business broken into through somebody getting through a wall rather
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: than through the windows because the windows that obviously had
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: those roller doors down. We know that crime has been
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: such a concern for the people of Alice Springs, so
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: much so that the Mayor, Matt Patterson, earlier this year
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: had written to the Prime Minister and other leaders around
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the nation calling for that help, and in a special
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: meeting this week, the Alla Springs Council did declare the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: crime crisis in the town as an emergency and resolved
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: to call on the Northern Territory government for a response.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: And I am joined on the line right now by
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the Mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie. Thanks having me, Matt.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Mate, What do you want to see from the Northern
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Territory government right now? We know that obviously there's a
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: new leader in that Chief Minister's role.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: What do you want to see from them?
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: Look, I think I've used the word numerous times that
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: we need a circuit breakthrough in Alice Springs, and I've
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: spoken to the new Chief Minister and I look forward
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: to catching up with her when she's in Ala Springs
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: next week. But just overnight again ourtown, Paul, the aquatic
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: center was absolutely smashed and belted and it's going to
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: have to be closed for a couple of days. They've
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: broken into they've broken into Sorry, I've just got my
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: young fellow there, all right, All good. They've broken into
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: the kiosk, they have thrown the computers into the pool,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: They've grafeited everywhere. It's just unbelievable.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: So that was last night, Matt.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: That was last night that the aquatic center was broken
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: into to that degree.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and so it looks like the aquatic center is
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: going to have to be shut for a couple of days.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, I mean substantial damage windows, the kiosk, all
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: the computers in the water. There's graffiti everywhere. So you know,
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: this is a real problem with facing But it's not
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: just a once off. This is happening every single day
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: and every single night, and so you know, I think
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: the whole community understands there's generational issues, and we've got
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: the long term and the medium term stuff, but we
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: certainly need a short term, short term answer.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, some kind of stop gap.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: And I don't know what that is, like, I don't
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: know exactly what can be done, but I tell you
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: what to have to deal with that each and every day.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: And I feel for you guys living in Alis because
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: it's something that like it does just seem as though
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: it's happening every single night.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's happening every single night. And you know, we're
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: talking about businesses getting broken into, but what's also happening
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: is people are breaking into children's rooms. And if you know,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: adults are waking up when there's kids standing over their
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: children's bed.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, oh god.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: It's pretty scary. And if that was your if you
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: woke up to that, I mean, you know you couldn't.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: It's scary to think what would happen. And on Tuesday
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: night we had a special council meeting and we heard
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: from members of the public. And it's not just financial
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: damage that people are copying. People have said that, you know,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: they've been broken numerous times. It's wearing sin for their
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: mental health, and people admitted in a public arena, which
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: you know would be quite difficult that there the pressure
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: has been put them on antidepressants, so you know, it's
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: a real thing. And it's not just the financial burden anymore.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: It's the fear of people going to bed and not knowing,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: you know, if their kids are going to be safe anymore.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I mean even this morning, you know, we received as
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: stay from the Northern Territory Police saying that a twenty
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: one year old man have been arrested after assaulting a
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: thirty five year old woman in a shopping center car park.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: That was at three o'clock on Monday afternoon, you know,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: in broad daylight.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not you know, it's not between dark anymore.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: It's all day, every day. And it's not just kids either.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: You know, people can sort of you can sort of
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: see who's who's broken in this. There's alcohol missing, yeah,
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: then you can say it's an adult. If there's the
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: car missing, well then it's a child usually.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Mate, What does the council want to see happen here?
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Because I guess you know, it is a good thing
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: that the newly appointed Chief Minister has been in contact
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: with you, and it is hopefully a good thing that
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: she's going to be there next week.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: But what do you think needs to sort of happen here?
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Because you and I have.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Spoken on numerous occasions, you know, I've spoken to other
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: people in Alice businesses, industry groups, like it's so obvious
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and so clear for everybody else, you know, to see
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: that something needs to change.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: But what do you reckon the government can do?
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: Look, I think at the end of the day, if
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: we've got eight year old kids and ten year old
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: kids out on a street, it's probably because they don't
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: feel safe at home. So that's the first problem. So
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: we need to create somewhere immediately that provides them that
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: safe place and there is suitable resources at that facility
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: where kids can feel safe, because yes, if they don't
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: feel safe at home, and if the street at three
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: o'clock in the morning is safer for them, well that's
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: that's a problem as well. I mean, that's a serious problem,
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: and that's a generational problem. So what we need to
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: do straight away is create a safe place for these
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: kids that they can be picked up and taken to them.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: You know, they can be given a bed and they
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: can be given a warm feed. But at the moment
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: these kids understand that if they can you know, these
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: kids are living in a real life grand theft auto game.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: There's no consequences for rem rating for doing those things.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: If they're under a certain age, there's got to be
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: there's got to be consequences for the actions because if
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: it was me and I did that sort of stuff,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: well then yes, and so you can't argue that they
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: don't know right or wrong. The community is fed.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Up, so obviously there does need to be a facility
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: somewhere where those kids can go. And then I mean,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: what's next, what do you think needs to be done.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: We know that the police like that they've bolstered the
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: numbers at different times and had special operations down there.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: I'm assuming that that has helped.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I take my hat off to the police force.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: They do an incredible, incredible job and I think day
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: and day out they're amazing. But yeah, if it's resources,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: you know, if it's more patrols, I don't know what
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: it is, but we certainly need that circuit breaker that
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: I mentioned before.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: You sound like you're at your wits end.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: I am. I mean, Alice Springs is an incredible place,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: and you know, as the may I want to be
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: speaking about how good it is, not speaking about the
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: problems we face because We've got incredible potential here and
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: I'd rather be talking about the amazing things that our
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: springs has to offer rather than this. And you know,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: I know we haven't had tourism for two years, so
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: it is difficult talking about it. Those businesses are struggling
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: and we're constantly talking about it. So I am at
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: my wits end and I just want to see some
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: change and I'll take you know, I had a good
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: discussion with the Chief fumness to the other day and
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: I'll take absolutely takes on face bow that she said.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: It's a priority of hers. So you know, I look
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: forward to that meeting next week.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's hope.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: So Hi.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Like I say, I feel for you guys. I haven't
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: been back to Alice for a few years, but I
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: lived there many years ago. It's a place that I
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: think is absolutely amazed And like I feel for you
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: too in the sense what you're saying that you don't
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: want to be talking it down, but until you can
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: get this crime issue sorted out, it's pretty hard to.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Talk it up.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah it is. But you know, I just like my
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: heartbreaks for people who are continually getting their business broken
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: into and continue you know, to open their doors every day,
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: and you know they still offer the offer this discounts
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: to locals. I mean, like, that's how good our town is.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: We do raally together and as I said, people understand
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: that there's that generational change that needs to happen, but
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: we just need that immediate, that immediate fix, just to
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: give us a breather for a little while.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, just very quickly, Matte, have you any idea like
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: that damage to the pool and to the aquatic center
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: last night?
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Have you any idea how much that's going to cost
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: to fix?
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: Oh, it'll be tens of thousands. Wow, it's unluck. You
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: know the window whose there's the vandluisms out of control.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: The graffiti's out of control. You know, they've broken into
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: the first daid room, torn it apart. Everything's upside down.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: As I said, getting into the kiosk that's gone berserk.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: All the computers are in the water. It's just senseless.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: That's not you know, that is just that is destructive and.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: That's worry absolutely, Matt Patterson. I really appreciate your time
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: this morning. I'm I like, honestly, I think saying I'm
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: sorry that that's happened to the people of Vllae Springs
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: again last night doesn't mean much because you know, you
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: guys are experiencing this all too often. But look, yeah,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I really hope that something changes, so do I Kay?
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Then I appreciate you're having me on. I think that
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: you know, as I said, I don't really want to
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: be sending this message, but if it's getting out there
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: and more people are listening, then we can ask for change.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: And it's been spoken about in Canberra, it's been spoken
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: about in Darwin.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: So I agree.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: Hopefully people are listen and make are brave enough to
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: make a tough decision.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Yep, I agree with you, Matt Patterson. The Mayor of Alice.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Good to talk to you. Thanks for your time, mate,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: good
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: On your thanks, Katie, thank you